The 870-kilometer (540 mi) long Kuban River is one of the major navigable rivers in the Caucasus region. It forms part of the northern border between the Republic of Adygea and Krasnodar Krai.
Other rivers include:

It was renamed Adyghe Autonomous Oblast (AO) in July 1928. On January 10, 1934, the autonomous oblast became part of new Azov-Black Sea Krai, which was removed from North Caucasus Krai. Maykop was made the administrative center of the autonomous oblast in 1936. Adyghe AO became part of Krasnodar Krai when it was established on September 13, 1937.

On July 3, 1991, the oblast was elevated to the status of a republic under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation.[4] The first President of the republic was Aslan Aliyevich Dzharimov, elected on 5 January 1992.[18]

From 2002 to 2007, Hazret Sovmen was President. He, and most of the rest of the political elite in Adygea, are Adyghes. As a reaction to that, an organization calling itself the Union of Slavs was established, claiming that ethnic Russians are discriminated against in Adygea. They advocate the merger of Adygea with Krasnodar Krai, but have so far have had little support for that proposition from the Russian government.[citation needed]

Relations between Adygs and ethnic Russians in Adyghe are currently good. Russians make up two-thirds of the population within Adygea.[19] The current Head of Adygea is Murat Kumpilov.

The Republic of Adygea is administratively divided into seven districts (raions), two cities/towns, and (at a lower administrative level) five urban-type settlements. Municipally, the republic is divided into two urban okrugs, five urban settlements, and 46 rural settlements.

114,610 people were registered from administrative databases, and could not declare an ethnicity. It is estimated that the proportion of ethnicities in this group is the same as that of the declared group.[24]

According to a 2012 survey,[25] 35.4% of the population of Adygea adheres to the Russian Orthodox Church, 13% to Islam, 3% are unaffiliatedChristians and 1% are Orthodox Christian believers who don't belong to church or are members of other (non-Russian) Orthodox churches. In addition, 30% of the population declares to be "spiritual but not religious", 9% is atheist and 8.6% follows other religions or did not answer to the question.[25]

The chief executive of the government of Adygea is the Head (called "President" until May 2011), who is appointed for a five-year term. Proficiency in the Adyghe language is a prerequisite for the candidate.[27]

The current Head, Murat Kumpilov (since January 27, 2017), succeeded Aslan Tkhakushinov, initially as acting Head of the region. There is also a directly elected State Council (Khase or Xase—not to be confused with the Adyghe Khase, a union of Adyghe who supported Sovmen for a second term), which comprises the Council of Representatives and the Council of the Republic. Both councils are elected every five years and have 27 deputies each.

The Republic sends three representatives to the parliament of the Russian Federation; one to the State Duma and the other two to the Federation Council.

Even though it is one of the poorest parts of Russia, the republic has abundant forests and rich soil. The region is famous for producing grain, sunflowers, tea, tobacco, and other produce. Hog and sheep breeding are also developed.

Food, timber, woodworking, pulp and paper, heavy engineering, and metal-working are the most developed industries.

^The density value was calculated by dividing the population reported by the 2010 Census by the area shown in the "Area" field. Please note that this value may not be accurate as the area specified in the infobox is not necessarily reported for the same year as the population.

Президент Республики Адыгея. Распоряжение №46-рп от 2 апреля 2007 г. «Об организации официального Интернет-сайта исполнительных органов государственной власти Республики Адыгея». (President of the Republic of Adygea. Directive #46-rp of April 2, 2007 On Creation of the Official Website of the Executive Organs of State Power of the Republic of Adygea. ).